May Mobility partnered with Magna to build, deploy and scale self-driving shuttles – the first will be launched this month in Detroit, Michigan.

Magna provides the engineering to retrofit the vehicles with autonomous stuff and production capacity of up to hundreds or thousands of vehicles if there’s demand. Some companies, like Waymo, expect that there will be demand for thousands of autonomous cars.

According to the press release, the initial fleet of vehicles will debut on June 26 in Detroit, Michigan.

Bigger commercial launch is expected in 2019 with on-demand services.

May Mobility – autonomous electric vehicle

“Magna will work on the vehicles in its Troy, Michigan-based custom build center, with May Mobility engineers collaborating on the development from its Ann Arbor headquarters. Starting with existing stock vehicles, the new partnership will create a number of street-ready self-driving electric shuttles designed by May Mobility and assembled by Magna that can scale in volume to hundreds, and eventually thousands of shuttles as market demands increase. Inside the Magna facility, its team of experts is doing a full rebuild for May Mobility’s self-driving shuttle, including:

Body modifications such as custom doors and a panoramic moonroof

Drive-by-Wire Upfitting to convert the vehicles into an autonomous-ready state

May Mobility will continue to further retrofit the vehicles with its proprietary technology stack, bringing safer and more reliable self-driving vehicles to complex urban and residential environments.”

“May Mobility’s distinct approach – partnering with developers, urban planners and municipalities to understand their needs and design solutions – establishes May Mobility as the trusted autonomous vehicle partner, both in communities and across the industry. The company intends to offer on-demand services by 2019 and expand its suite of vehicles and services based on customer demand.”

Swamy Kotagiri, Magna Chief Technology Officer said:

“Magna is pleased to work with a company like May Mobility to help support new mobility in city centers. This project demonstrates our complete vehicle and technical expertise which supports both existing automakers and new companies entering the automotive space.”

Steve Vozar, founder and CTO for May Mobility said:

“Magna shares our high technical standards and excitement about servicing the growing demand for self-driving vehicles to meet today’s transportation needs, while also laying the path for the future. This deal demonstrates our commitment to scale and accelerate operations with a partner who understands quality and reliability in the build process, and who can match the exacting process that makes us a trusted community partner.”